1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a character input device and method, and in particular to a character input apparatus and method using a direction indicating device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application, First Publication, No. Hei 7-129294 is an example of a conventional character input device. This device has a frame sized so that it can be grasped by one hand, a rotating body provided on this frame that can be rotatably operated by the thumb, a key switch mounted on the frame and operated by a finger other than the thumb, a means for detecting the state of rotation of the rotating body, a means for detecting whether a key switch is being pressed, and a means for selecting a character based on the detection result of these two means, and wherein character input is realized from a rotating body, sized so that it can be grasped by one hand and rotatably operated by the thumb in order to input characters with one hand, and a see-saw switch that can be operated by a finger other than the thumb.
When inputting characters, this device specifies an input character by using four switches which can detect a five-stage stroke, and in order to move the cursor displayed on the screen, characters are input by using a track ball or the cursor manipulated.
In addition, Japanese Patent Application, First Publication, Sho 63-58590, discloses a different vector pattern input device. This device is provided with an operation board for character input that can move on a surface, a means which can detect the direction of movement of the operation board, and a means that can recognize the input character pattern from the direction of movements, the time of the movements, and the sequence of the movements of the operation board detected by the detection means. Characters are written on a touch panel, recognition of the character is carried out based on the stroke information, and the character is input.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application, First Publication, No. Hei 6-161433 discloses a conventional electrical music instrument with character input. This device is provided with a character set calling means which calls in a predetermined sequence one character set among character sets divided into a plurality of groups each time a switch is pressed, a character calling means which calls in a predetermined sequence a character from among the one character set called by the calling means depending on the rotation angle when a dial is turned to the right or to the left, and a display means that displays on a display the characters called by the character calling means. This is a means wherein a dial is used, and by rotating the dial a character is displayed on the display, and the character is input while observing this display.
This musical instrument is provided with a group selection switch for selecting numbers and large and small alphabet characters, and by pressing this switch, the selection of groups such as large and small characters can be carried out.
Next, Japanese Patent Application, First Publication, No. Hei 7-16865 discloses another conventional character input device. This device comprises a plurality of switches that can detect a pressed state having several stages, a coordinate information input means, a character code generation means that generates a corresponding character code based on the combination of the pressed state of the plurality of switches, a display unit, a dictionary file, a conversion candidate detection means that inputs a provisional character and searches for conversion candidates for a provisional character sequence from the dictionary file, a conversion candidate display means which displays on the display the conversion candidates that the conversion candidate detection means has found, and a cursor display means which displays a cursor on the display based on information that the coordinate input means outputs. Character input is realized by using the track ball and a switch group that can adjust a stroke in several stages.
Conventionally, a keyboard which has alphabet, numbers, and Japanese hiragana characters, etc., printed on the tops of the keys is used for character input, and in the case of a cellular telephone, character input is carried out using a numeric board with ten keys.
In addition, an example of an input apparatus that does not use a keyboard is a device wherein character input is carried out by using a touch panel, which is an input device integrated with the display device and obtains position information by being touched, displaying a keyboard on the display device, touching the characters on the keyboard shown in the screen, and outputting to the screen the character corresponding to the touched character.
This device for character input is a means which selects the desired character sequence by detecting the angle of the rotation direction when the rotatable lever is moved, allocating the vowel direction, and allocating the consonant direction using seesaw switch.
However, in the device disclosed in the above-described Japanese Patent Application, First Publication, No. Hei 7-129294, the characters in the vowel direction are allocated by a rotating body mounted in the character input apparatus, and the characters in the consonant direction are allocated with a see-saw switch. In this type of input apparatus, when the rotating body is rotated to a certain degree, the desired vowel character can be chosen, and when the see-saw switch is pressed a number of times, the desired character is the consonant direction can be chosen, but there are the problems that it is difficult to imagine the outcome, and in order to select a character, all the selectable characters are always displayed on the screen, and a means for selecting the characters while looking at the screen is necessary. The area of the part of this display is occupied, and characters are input while looking at the sentence.
In addition, because a character is input by two types of switch, the rotating body and the see-saw switch, it is not possible to input characters with one finger.
The device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application, First Publication, No. Sho 63-58590, has the problem that character recognition is carried out using a touch panel.
For character recognition in a portable telephone or a small apparatus like a portable telephone, if the area for hand-written character input is dedicated, there is the unfortunate effect that the area of the screen that can display becomes narrow, and as a result, it is difficult to input a sentence.
In addition, in order to input characters, because an input device such as a pen having a comparatively fine tip must be used in combination with the input device, the pen must always be carried while the user is walking, and when inputting information, the pen must be taken out each time.
Due to this, in the situation of using the pen while carrying the device body in the hand, because one hand must be used to carry the device body and the other hand must hold the pen, both hands are engaged. The device disclosed in Japanese patent Application, First Publication, No. Hei 6-161433, is in an electrical music instrument with a character input function, and has the problem that the characters are selected using a dial, and character sequences of large characters and small characters, etc., are selected using a group selection switch.
The method of selecting characters by a dial has the problem that when selecting a character allocated at a position on the opposite side of the dial in the radial direction from the character currently selected, that is, separated by 180xc2x0, the number of movements of the fingers becomes high, and thereby inputting numerous characters is difficult.
The device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application, First Publication, No. Hei 7-168658, is a character input apparatus and method, and has the problem that character input is carried out using a plurality of switches that have a stroke with several stages for character input.
Because one among the switch group allocates the vowels while the consonants are allocated with respect to step-wise stroke positions of another switch group, the user of this input device must remember the vowels and consonants that are allocated by the various switches, and it is difficult to remember these positions.
In addition, although it is easy to set the stages of the strokes by providing stages in the stroke of the switches and providing interlocking at the respective stages, it is difficult to adjust the stroke for each switch at one time because there is a plurality of them.
Because characters are input by a keyboard, in order to realize suitable input for each type in the case of English, keys such as the 26 characters of the alphabet, a conversion switch for small and large characters, numbers, etc., are necessary, and at a minimum, almost 40 keys are required.
In addition, considering that these switch groups are pressed with the fingers, each of these switches cannot be made smaller than the limit of their being able to be pressed by a finger, and thus a large surface area is required.
However, while there are no problems with this method for the relatively large devices such as desk top personal computers and note pad personal computers used on a desk, etc., installing a keyboard is not very realistic for relatively small portable terminals of, for example, a PDA (Personal Data Assistance).
In addition, for terminals that are not placed on a desk but rather are comparatively frequently used with one hand, such as a PDA, inputting characters by a keyboard is very difficult.
In consideration of the above-described problems in the conventional technology, it is an object of the present invention to provide an environment wherein character input, in particular the input of Japanese language characters, can be simply carried out on a small apparatus which has few input means, such as a mobile terminal, and wherein character input can be carried out only with one hand in an environment which does not allow the use of both hands, and it is possible to select characters by the movements of a finger without selecting characters from a character chart displayed on the screen.
In consideration of the above problems, the present invention is characterized in having a direction indicating device which outputs the direction of rotation or the direction of inclination or its force, a display device, a key input means, a memory which stores a plurality of types of character sets comprising a plurality of characters, and a control means which accepts the output of the direction indication device as circumferential position information of this direction indication device, selects the character set stored in the memory depending on the output of the contents, displays on the display device a plurality of characters which make up this set, and subsequently, the selected character is made the input character when there is input to the effect that one among the displayed characters has been selected as an input character from the key input means.
In addition, the characters which make up the plurality of types of character sets stored in the memory are characterized by being stored corresponding to the positional information from the direction indicating device.
In addition, the control device is characterized in detecting each of the respective circumferential directions and radial directions of the movement of the direction indicating device, selecting one of the character sets depending on the movement of the specified radial direction of the direction indicating device, and selecting the characters at that point in time by the movement in the circumferential direction.
In addition, the control device is characterized in that when the character set including the alphabet as a displayed character set is selected, the characters making up the character set are displayed arranged in the order of a QWERTY keyboard, and when the character set including numbers is selected, the characters making up the character set are displayed arranged in the order of the ten keys of the calculator.
In addition, the present invention is a character input method having a direction indicating device which outputs the direction of rotation or the direction of inclination or its force, a display device, a key input means, a memory which stores a plurality of types of character sets comprising a plurality of characters, and a control means which accepts the output of the direction indication device as circumferential positional information of this direction indication device, selects the character set stored in the memory depending of the output of the contents, displays on the display device a plurality of characters which make up this set, and subsequently, the selected character is made the input character when there is input to the effect that one among the displayed characters has been selected as an input character from the key input means, and characterized in including a first step which determines whether the mode is the character input mode, a second step in which the character/cursor key provided by the key input means is pressed when not in the character input mode in the first step; a third step which determines whether the determination key provided by the key input means has been pressed when the mode in the first step is the character input mode, a fourth step which displays the selected character set when the determination key is pressed in the third step and returns to the first step, a fifth step in which the control means scans the position information of the direction indication device at fixed intervals when the determination key is not pressed in the third step, a sixth step in which the character set selected by the rotating plate is selected, a seventh step which inputs and edits the characters of the selected character set, and an eighth step which determines whether the character input has ended, and in the case that it has not ended, returns to the first step and continues the input of characters, and in the case that it has ended, ends the input of characters.
In addition, the invention is characterized in having a rotation plate which determines the position, a display device, a key input means, a memory which stores a plurality of types of character sets comprising a plurality of characters, and a control means which accepts the output of the rotation plate as circumferential position information of this direction indication device, selects the character set stored in the memory depending on this output, displays a plurality of characters which make up this set on the display device, and subsequently, the selected character is made the input character when there is input to the effect that one among the displayed characters has been selected as an input character.
In addition, the plurality of characters which make up the plurality of types of character sets is characterized in being stored in the memory disposed depending on the positional information from the rotation plate.
In addition, the rotation plate is characterized in providing a knob for setting a position slidably mounted on the rotating plate, a knob travelling groove which is the guide when the knob is moved in a circumferential direction from the center direction of the rotation plate, a set of contact points for electrically detecting the position of the knob, contact point wiring for connecting the set of contact points to a detection circuit, a wiring through-hole for connecting the wiring from the set of connection points on the base to the back of the base, and wiring for the set of connection points for connecting the set of connection points to the detection circuit.
In addition, the invention is characterized in having a rotation plate which determines the position, a display device, a key input means, a memory which stores a plurality of types of character sets comprising a plurality of characters, and a control means which accepts the output of the rotation plate as circumferential positional information of this direction indication device, selects the character set stored in the memory depending of this output, displays a plurality of characters which make up this set on the display device, and subsequently, the selected character is made the input character when there is input to the effect that one among the displayed characters has been selected as an input character, and including a first step which determines whether the mode is the character input mode, a second step in which the character/cursor key the key that input means provides is pressed when not in the character input mode in the first step, a third step which determines whether the determination key that the key input means provides has been pressed when the mode in the first step is the character input mode, a fourth step that displays the selected character set and returns to the first step when the determination key is pressed in the third step, a fifth step in which the control means scans the position information of the direction indication device at fixed intervals when the determination key is not pressed in the third step, a sixth step in which the character set selected by the direction indication device is selected, a seventh step which inputs and edits the characters of the selected character set, and an eighth step that determines whether the character input has ended, and in the case that it has not ended, returns to the first step and continues the input of characters, and in the case that it has ended, ends the input of characters.
According to the above structure, in the present invention it is not necessary to use a character writing pen as in the method of using a touch panel because the selection of characters is carried out by using a direction indicating switch which can detect the indicated force and the direction together. In addition, it is not necessary to carry out selection of the characters while looking at the ten numeric keys as with the character input using the ten numeric keys.
Furthermore, in deciding the character, a button switch is used, and by pressing this button, the character is determined. Thereby, it is possible to make the selection and determination of the character with one hand. Due to this, by carrying out the selection of Japanese language characters by selecting small characters according to the direction of the direction indicating device, and carrying out the selection of large characters according to the inclination and force of the direction indicating device, it is possible to carry out selection of characters with one finger without looking at a display device.